1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric motor including mold resin molded on a stator core and to an electric motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known an electric motor including a case which accommodates a stator core, coils and a rotor. In the electric motor, the polarity of the coil is repeatedly reversed to cause the rotor, which is provided inward of the stator core in a radial direction thereof, to rotate about a rotary shaft of the rotor. Meanwhile, such electric motor is used as a power source for an electric motor vehicle, for example.
There has been proposed a technique to improve radiation of heat transmitted from the coils provided to the stator core. In the technique, mold resin is filled into a case with the stator core mounted therein.
In addition, there has been proposed an electric motor including a temperature detecting element configured to detect the temperature of each coil. To be more specific, a hole is formed in the mold resin extending from an outer side to an inner side of the stator core in a radial direction thereof, and the temperature detecting element is inserted into the hole formed in the mold resin (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-136324).
As described above, the hole formed in the mold resin has a shape extending inwardly from the outside of the stator core in the radial direction thereof. Since coils are provided inward of the stator core in the radial direction, the hole to receive the temperature detecting element is provided outward of the coil in the axial direction of the rotary shaft of the rotor. In other words, the temperature detecting element is placed at a position near the surface of the electric motor in the axial direction of the rotary shaft of the rotor. At such position near the surface of the electric motor, the temperature detecting element is likely to be affected by ambient conditions of the electric motor (such as an outside temperature and wind).
As described above, the temperature detecting element is placed at a position where the temperature detecting element is likely to be affected by the ambient conditions of the electric motor, and thus the detection accuracy thereof would be insufficient.